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According to the blog, it was the test screening that drove the change to Sentinel Prime. However we have to wonder if Hasbro had a say in this change. Ultra Magnus has always been a heroic character and doesn't match the role that Sentinel Prime plays in DOTM.

The blog also states that they re-used the Ultra Magnus head as what the Apollo 11 astronauts step on and uncover as they explore the ship.

agentk9 wrote:wow. it kinda confirms that they are basically just assigning the TF brand names to these fugly ass designs by pulling them out of a hat. No regard for the actual characters or mythos.

Actually, by not naming him Ultra Magnus, that shows they don't want to do that. Dino and Q were suppose to be Mirage and Wheeljack. It's lame the toys will still be referred to as such.

They certainly couldn't have called Sentinel, Nemesis Prime, that would have been too obvious. They do have some concern, not as much as other adaptations, but sentinel being magnus would have been worse.

Screamfleet wrote:Actually, by not naming him Ultra Magnus, that shows they don't want to do that. Dino and Q were suppose to be Mirage and Wheeljack. It's lame the toys will still be referred to as such.

I think that just makes it evident that LOTS of characters changed names at the last minute.

Doesn't matter to me. None of the robots have enough character development to make me attached to them (Shockwave... Jazz....) or care about a name change. *shrugs*

We all know I'm going to that movie to watch stuff blow up... and to hear Cullen voice Prime.

agentk9 wrote:wow. it kinda confirms that they are basically just assigning the TF brand names to these fugly ass designs by pulling them out of a hat. No regard for the actual characters or mythos.

Actually, by not naming him Ultra Magnus, that shows they don't want to do that. Dino and Q were suppose to be Mirage and Wheeljack. It's lame the toys will still be referred to as such.

They certainly couldn't have called Sentinel, Nemesis Prime, that would have been too obvious. They do have some concern, not as much as other adaptations, but sentinel being magnus would have been worse.

well said.

and just because they don't look like boxes running around doesn't make them ugly. get over it.

anyone else notice that there were nods to two G1 story lines in the movie?

and what.. the movie universe can't be it's own universe? it HAS to be the G1 universe?

they try to use the names that we know because that's what the fans want. and i guess you missed all of the characters that they did well..

i love G1 as much as the next guy.. but there's already a G1.. this can't be something new, for new fans? i thought sentinel prime was a great choice for the movie. he's a character that i've certainly never cared for. and now he's got a major role and is in the spotlight. i think it's great. bringing new life to an old name.

Unfortunately, Ultra Magnus couldn't deal with being in a blockbuster movie.

That's definitely quite a shocker, but I still wonder now if the alt-mode was somewhat inspired by Animated Magnus. I would've liked to have seen an Ultra Magnus, but I think Sentinel Prime is the way to go- a name that otherwise isn't spoken a lot among the fandom.Of course, the character of Sentinel Prime had been toyed with since early drafts of the first movie, so I see how they'd be eager to use him for once.

I can see some of both sides (familiar G1 VS fresh take)... but at the end of it, I felt like the movies have drawn as much - or more - from other franchises than actual TF lore... including Aliens, Predator, Bionicle, Dinozaurs, the Matrix... with ole Optimus dropped in the middle of the hodge-podge.

I guess I'd prefer they use new names, if they're completely different/new characters.

And I even guessed that it was Ultra Magnus when Sentinel was first shown in the first teaser he was in. I wish they had done that. If they could make Prime a vicious ****, surely they could make Magnus a misguided backstabber.

............."We're gonna see just how much Rod they can handle!"............

According to the blog, it was the test screening that drove the change to Sentinel Prime. However we have to wonder if Hasbro had a say in this change. Ultra Magnus has always been a heroic character and doesn't match the role that Sentinel Prime plays in DOTM.

The blog also states that they re-used the Ultra Magnus head as what the Apollo 11 astronauts step on and uncover as they explore the ship.

That does not make sense. So the movie CGI was completed way in advance?

Whatever the case, I would have been fine with Ultra Magnus. It would have been interesting.

I'm glad they went with Sentinel Prime, as it's far more fitting for Ultra Magnus to be left a hero. Sentinel has had some shady business in some continuities. Magnus has always been a good guy thru and thru.

I'd love for them to have brought in Ultra Magnus as a fellow good guy so Prime had another heavy hitter to go with his bunch of cars. May be he can join for 4th film.

"The question that once haunted my being has been answered. The future is not fixed, and my choices are my own. And yet, how ironic...for I now find that I have no choice at all! I am a warrior...let the battle be joined." —Dinobot

Motto:"For I have dipped my hands in muddied waters, and, withdrawing them, find 'tis better to be a commander than a common man!"

Weapon: Dark Saber Sword

Um, Ultra Magnus is definitely not a turncoat that wanted to enslave the human population and gets his can kicked by both Megatron and Optimus. He's the Transformer version of a red-white-and-blue Master Chief.

agentk9 wrote:wow. it kinda confirms that they are basically just assigning the TF brand names to these fugly ass designs by pulling them out of a hat. No regard for the actual characters or mythos.

Actually, by not naming him Ultra Magnus, that shows they don't want to do that. Dino and Q were suppose to be Mirage and Wheeljack. It's lame the toys will still be referred to as such.

They certainly couldn't have called Sentinel, Nemesis Prime, that would have been too obvious. They do have some concern, not as much as other adaptations, but sentinel being magnus would have been worse.

I guess you can read into it that way as well but, to me, it still does. If not for the intervention of fans at the screen test, or by Hasbro themselves, then we'd be stuck with more mockery of the characters' history. So it wasnt a case of them simply "not wanting to" but having to correct it because they were TOLD to by a 3rd party. And wow, I didnt know that about Mirage and Wheeljack. It DOES seem however, as you stated, there is more care given to this movie than the previous. I'll be seeing it tomorrow, so we'll see i guess!